The present invention consists generally of a method and apparatus for inventorying articles on a storage device by use of a lead screw. The present invention includes various embodiments using a lead screw, including using a variable pitch screw consisting of a metal rod with a machined helical trough of a uniquely varying pitch used for the purpose of linearly propagating hanging packages while varying the distance with respect to each other. One preferred embodiment of the present invention enables a user to quickly and efficiently scan and store packages of medication hanging on a lead screw in a centralized storage/retrieval system.
Screws for package transfer have been designed with a single pitch which is constant along its entire length. A problem with such a design is that the packages are held too close together to allow the front surface of the packages to be scanned by a bar code reader. The present invention solves this problem by various embodiments, including a preferred embodiment of varying the pitch of the screw to turn the surface of the packages toward the side so a surface of the package can be scanned by a bar code reader. The advantage to this is that it allows the front surface of the packages to become visible one at a time while still allowing the packages to remain hanging close together for compact storage.
The present invention includes a method of inventorying packages on a storage device, comprising the steps of: removing the packages from a storage device with a screw by rotating the screw by its axis so that the end of the screw enters holes in the packages to withdraw the packages from the storage device between threads of the screw; scanning a surface of the packages to read indicia (such as bar codes) on the surfaces; and recording information obtained from the indicia on the packages.
Various objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when viewed in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which set forth certain embodiments of the invention.